Liquid dispensing device



Oct 11", 1938. c w, sM 2,132,657

LIQUID DISPENSING DEVICE Filed May 15, 1936 Patented Oct. 11, 1938 UNITETAT PATENT OFFICE -7 Claims.

This invention relates to ink containers, and in its illustrated formincludes a main container,

with a removable top having a recess therein and an inner container orwell supported within the neck of the main container in such manner.that it maybe filled from the main container by tipping the maincontainer upside down to let the ink run into the top, and thenuprighting it to let the ink run from the top into the inner well.

Ink containers of this general type have been known heretofore, and infact this invention may be considered an improvement on that disclosedin my Patent No. 2,055,509, issued September 29,

1936, on an application filed October 22, 1934, and copending with thisapplication. However, it also covers certain features disclosed but notclaimed in said patent, and to that extent it is a continuation in partof said application.

One of the features of this invention consists in shaping the inner wellin such manner as to support a wide variety of fountain pens intheproper position for filling without letting the point of the pen touchthe bottomof the .well,,or without interfering withthe fillingoperation, thus avoiding the possibility of injury to the point. vIt

should be noted that this feature can be incorporated in almost anytypeof ,inkwell.

Another feature of the present inventionis the provisionof a bottle neckand removable top construction in which leaking and dribbling areeffectively prevented, and in which certain other unsatisfactoryconditions of prior ink containers have beeneliminated For example,thewasher which prevents leaking is now secured in the 33' container insuch a way that itis practically impossible for it to come loose anytime duringthe life of the container. This is accomplished by the aid offine grooves and anchoring projections on the inside of the top intowhich the washer is pressed. These grooves and fins have been so shapedthat they'do not add to the manufacturing difficulties. u

The combination of a bottle neck, the top of which is substantially fiatexcept for a slight inward slant together with; a fairly thick andsomewhat plastic washer, has substantially eliminated the danger ofsmall amounts of ink running onto the outside of. the bottle as the topis removed. As a matter of fact, theflat top of the neck will usually beleft completely clean, but even if, with frequently repeated use, theink gradually works onto this top surface, it will tend 'to flow fromthis surface back into the bottleinstead of drib-.

bling over to the outsideof the bottle. e

It is therefore an object of the present inven' tion to provide an inkwell of the type described which properly supports all or nearly alltypes of pens for filling without injuring its point, and which providesan adequate supply of ink within the auxiliary well for filling the pen.5

A further object of the invention is to provide an ink container havingan inner well therein and having a closure construction of such naturethat the container is dependably sealed against leakage, and thepresence of small amounts of ink on the outside of the bottle isprevented.

Another object is to provide a cap having its threads so formed that thecap will fit bottles which are imperfectly formed. This is accomplishedby making the cap threads thinner and shaped withsubstantiallyihorizontal upper faces.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, taken with the drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view through the 20 preferredform of thisinvention, showing the bottlecap removed .and apen in place for filling.

' Fig. 2v isfla view somewhat similar to Fig. 1 but on a larger scaleand showing the outside of the inner well and showing the cap in place.

.Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the cap on a still largerscale, in fact, approximately four times actual size, with the washerremoved.

Fig. 4 is a developed view of the threaded portion of the bottle cap;and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the cap substantially along the line55 of Fig. 3, with the washer removed.

Although this invention may take various forms, only one has beenchosenfor illustration. In this form the invention includes a bottle ll,normally sealed by a cap I2 and having an inner well l3 supported in itsneck by ribs I4, the construction being such that the inner well l3 maybe filled by tipping. the bottle upside down and then quickly uprightingit.

The outside of the inner well [3 is preferably substantially the same asthat, shown in applicants oopending application Serial No. 749,423,except for slightchanges. resulting from internal 4s improvements, andtherefore may be discussed quite briefly. The inner well isapproximately of cone shape, and at its upper or larger end is providedwith a plurality of ribs I4, preferably an odd number thereof, toprovidethe greatest 50 degree of resilienceand to avoid the rockingeffect I that might be obtained with diametrically opposed ribs. Each ofthe ribs I4 is provided with a longitudinally extending V-shaped groove6 to" provide two longitudinally extending thin edges 3 H as seen bestin Fig. 2. These thin edges may be called feather edges since they willyield to the extent necessary to fit into the neck of the bottle whileat the same time clinging tightly to the neck so as to retain the properposition once it has been inserted.

It is desirable that that part of the outer wall of the inner wellbetween the ribs M be so shaped as to facilitate the flow of ink fromthe bottle into the cap without enabling it to flow too easily in thereverse direction. To this end the top of the well extends quite closeto the neck of the bottle, but recedes therefrom downwardly. Sinceconsiderable radial pressure may be exerted on the inner well by thebottle neck, it is desirable to have a strong annular thickened portion2| as seen in both Figs. 1 and 2, adjacent to the ribs.

The preferred form of the inside of the well is that shown in Fig. 1, inwhich near the bottom there is an annular shoulder 23 so positioned andof such diameter that the sides of the pen will rest thereon as seen inFig. 1, without permitting the pen point to touch the bottom of thewell.

With the prevalence of the plunger type of pens, protection of the penpoint has become more necessary than heretofore because of the downwardpressure exerted on the pen in operating the plunger. The shoulders 23protect the pen point adequately While at the same time having noadverse effect on the filling of the pen. Because the shoulder 23provides a circular opening and because the corresponding portion of thepen is not circular. there is sure to be a passage for fiow of the inkbetween the upper end of the well and the lower end of the well. Thelevel'of the ink is sufficiently high to provide an adequate supply ofink for one filling before the ink drops too low to be drawn in. Ofcourse the inner well may also be made of a larger diameter if thebottle neck is larger in diameter.

The form shown in Fig. 1 is especially satisfactory for the reason thatit will properly support all or nearly all pens, for although the pensvary considerably in the diameter of the barrels, there is relativelylittle variation in the tapers of the lower portions of the pen points,and with the illustrated structure, the position of the pen isdetermined entirely by the taper of the point.

In an ink container or bottle including an inner well such as the welll3, it is extremely important to have a good seal for the bottle,because of the necessity of turning the bottle upside down to fill theinner well. As a matter of fact, in some proposed bottles having aninner well, in the past, the worst feature has been the unsatisfactorysealing of the cap. The difficulty lies not only in providing a capwhich will be leakproof, while firmly screwed down, but in providing acap which may in fact be screwed down firmly irrespective ofirregularities in the thread portion of the liquid container which oftencauses binding of the cap on the bottle, so as to make screwing of thecap diflicult, or binding so great as to make removal of the capsubstantially im possible. There is a difiiculty in providing a capwhich will not permit small amounts of the ink to dribble down on theoutside of the bottle as the cap is removed, and furthermore, providinga cap in which the sealing means such as the washer will stay in placepermanently. The present invention presents a very satisfactory solutionof all these difficulties.

It will be noted that the top of the bottle neck is provided with anearly fiat annular surface 3| which has a very slight inward slope. Thevery tip 32 of the bottle is approximately at the outside edge of theneck. This bottle construction may not be new in itself, but incombination with applicants sealing means the result is very much betterthan has been attained heretofore.

The sealing means includes a washer 33 which may desirably be any paperproduct such as chip board treated with a plastic waterproof ma terialsuch as parafiin. A mixture of 75% paraffin and 25% beeswax is preferredand has the advantage of greater adhesive qualities than paraffin alone.The adhesiveness helps to hold the washer in place. The washer ispreferably fairly thick 50' that it will yield enough to seal againstthe entire top surface 3|. The result is that ink will not ordinarilyget onto said surface at all, since when the bottle is upside down, thecap I2 is screwed tightly onto the bottle, and the washer 33 istherefore in firm contact with the entire surface 3|. When the bottle isuprighted, substantially all of the ink flows off of the cap. In thisconnection it should be noted that there is no downwardly projectingpart on the inside of the cap on which small amounts of ink would beparticularly likely to hang. Of course it is inevitable that very tinyamounts of ink may occasionally remain on the cap. In the course of manyuses this ink may gradually spread onto the washer 33 and be transferredby it to the surface 3|, but since this surface slants inwardly, it isvirtually inconceivable with normal use that ink will ever get beyondthe tip 32 and dribble onto the outside of the bottle.

One of the major difficulties with a cap of this type is the retentionof the washer 33 in the cap. Of course when it is not retained, a leakycap is likely to result, and even at best the user is likely to get hisfingers dirty in putting the washer in place.

According to the present invention, the washer 33 is retained in placeby three expedients. First, an annular depending flange 36 is provided.This not only provides another surface for increasing the friction bywhich the Washer 33 is held in place, but also positively preventsspreading of the washer, and thereby insures its effectiveness andprevents it from catching ink as the bottle is uprighted. In addition tothis, the seat for the washer is provided with a plurality of fineannular grooves 38. Even the combination of the flange 36 and thegrooves 38 would not be dependably effective alone and thereforeprojections 39 have been provided. The provision of such projectionspresented a difficulty because of the necessity of unscrewing the capfrom the die after the molding. This difficulty has been solved,however, partly by making the projections. 39 in the form of threadshaving the same pitch as the main thread M, by which the cap is securedto the bottle. This is best seen in Fig. 4, in which'this portion of thecap has been developed and the anchor threads 39 are seen as beingparallel to the main thread 4|. Also, the anchor threads 39 must be sopositioned that the die forming them will pass out between the threads4|. To'this end the anchor threads 39 are formed as projections on anannular shoulder 43 which has a radius no greater than the smallestradius of the thread 4|, and preferably slightly less than the radius ofthread 4| to permit easy insertion of the washer 33 past the screwthreads to be pressed into place at the anchor threads '39 as-will behereinafter-explained.-

In assembling the wax treated washer 33 in the cap l2, it is droppedinto the open-end to preferably fall down'as far as the threads 39 whereit is pressed in with enough pressure to cause the wax and the fibers ofthe paper itself to expand into the grooves 38 and in between thethreads 39,"thus securing the washer 33 in place so permanently that'itcannot evenbe picked out with a knife except in small bits. TheWasher may be slightly oversize with respect to the thread portion 39 sothat it'will-snap into place, and the pressure'may be such as to c'ausethe wax to melt and flow. To increasethis latter effect the washer maybe heated if desired.

In order that theanchor threads 39 may have the greatestpossib-le'retaining effect on the washer, they are preferably shaped incross section as shown best in Fig. 3 with their upper sidesapproximately horizontal. The portion of the thread below the horizontalface, as viewed in Fig. 3, is inclined to facilitate the sliding of thewasher. into place to be retained by the cooperation of the threadconstruction as discussed.

One very difficult problem in connection with ink containers Of'thiSgeneral type was to find a material suitable for the caps and innerwells which could be molded quite accurately to the required shapes, andwhich would withstand long contact with the ink without discoloringtheink, and without being corroded by the ink. After extensive search itwas found that the molded phenolic resin known and availablecommercially as Durezi was. ideal for this purpose, being so inert thatall of the ordinary inks can stand in the well for months or even yearswithout any noticeable deleterious effect.

In the past many bottles have had to be discarded because ofimperfections in the bottle threads and neck causing'binding orstickingof the caps on the bottle, which either prevented properscrewing of the caps, or caused breakage of the caps. According to thepresent invention this difiiculty has been largely overcome by changingthe main thread formation of the cap to that shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Thethread 4| is smaller in a vertical direction than the intended size ofthe groove 48 between threads 46 on the bottle, and the space 41 betweenconvolutions of thread 4| is larger than the intended size of thread 46both in radius and in the vertical direction. This is largelyaccomplished by forming the threads 4! approximately horizontal on theirtop surface.

The bottle thread is normally rounded, with the portion immediatelyadjacent the neck of the bottle substantially horizontal. This portionmay be extremely small, and it is simply the standard construction forglass bottle threads. With a corresponding rounded surface on the capthread, as has been used in the prior art'caps, there has been a wedgingforce developed between the cap and bottle due to manufacturingirregularities in the threads of an inexpensive glass bottle, causingthe difficulty mentioned above. With the upper horizontal surfaceconstruction for thread 4| as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, there is astraight surface on the cap thread in engagement with the surface of thebottle thread, and the lip 42 will ordinarily bear against the insidesubstantially horizontal portion of the bottle thread to provide ahorizontal surface engagement between the two.

Of course the cap securing force is still exerted on the threads 41 in adownward direction, but the wedging force due to a rounded cap threadsurface onradiallyoversize bottle threads or on vertically oversizebottle threads, iseliminated unless the imperfections of the bottle areentirely out of reason. Furthermore, should there be any tainer isprovided which not only furnishes a convenient means for fillingfountain pens or dipping ordinary pens without injury to the points, butalso can be used for months or years with complete satisfaction bothinpreventing evapo ration to maintain thequality of the ink, and inavoiding dribbling of the ink to the outside container or dropping ofthe washer fromthe C011".

tainer cap. It is understood of course that the well and cap may be usedwith a container for any liquid. Although only'afew embodiments of myinvention have been herein shown and described, it will'be understoodthat I am not limited thereby, but limit my invention only by the scopeof the appended claims. I claim: a V 1. An ink well including a bodymember having a cavity therein closed at the bottom thereof and havingimperforate side walls, a lower portion of which cavity is of reducedcross section to form an annular shoulderfor engaging the pen point nibsof a pen inserted into said well and holding said pen with its point outof contact with said well but close to thebottom thereof, and with theholder below the normal level of ink in the well; the cross sectionalshape of said shoulder formed by the reduced portion being differentfrom that of the nib portion of a pen which it is designed to engage, toprevent sealing of the lower part of said well; the interior of saidwell.

being free from horizontal surfaces and from upstanding members abovethe closed bottom of the cavity, whereby possibility of the pen pointbeingcaught as it is inserted vertically into said well is eliminated.

2. The combination of an ink container having a neck opening, aone-piece cap closing said opening and having a cavity in the roofthereof, a well in said neck adapted to be filled by inverting saidclosed container and uprighting it, a washer secured in said cap, andsealed against the top of said neck opening; said cap having adownwardly extending annular flange, having main threads thereon forsecuring the cap to said container, an annular vertical wall extendingabove said flange and having fine anchor threads thereon above said mainthreads for securing said washer in place, said anchor threads being ofthe same pitch as said main threads, and being so positioned that thedie member forming them and the main threads may be unscrewed from thecap.

3. The combination of an ink container having a neck opening, aone-piece cap closing said opening and having a cavity in the roofthereof, a well in said neck adapted to be filled by inverting saidclosed container and uprighting it, a washer secured in said cap, andsealed against the top of said neck opening; said cap having a downcapfor securing said washer in place, a seat above wardly extending annularflange, having main threads thereon for securing the cap to saidcontainer, and having fine anchor threads in an annular, vertical wallabove said main threads for securing said washer in place, said anchorthreads being of the same pitch as said main threads, and being sopositioned that the die member forming them and themain threads may beunscrewed from the cap, and the upper sides of saidmain threads beingapproximately horizontal to form a relatively sharp edge for cuttingthrough any foreign substances on the container neck for easyremovability of said cap from said container.

4. The combination of an ink container having a neck opening, aone-piece cap closing said opening'and having a cavity in the roofthereof, a well in said neck adapted to be filled by inverting saidclosed container and uprighting it, and a washer secured to said cap andsealed against the top of said neck opening; said cap having adownwardly extending annular flange having main screw threads thereonfor engaging threads on said container, and having similarly disposedfine anchor threads above said main threads in said and adjacent saidanchor threads, and a depending flange on the opposite side of said seatfrom said threads to form a cavityrfor the washer, and a washer pressedinto said cavity and intimately engaging said anchor threads.

5. The combination of an ink container having a neck, an inner-welltherefor for filling a fountainpen therein, said inner-well being openat the top and closed at the bottom, means for supporting said well insaid neck and spacing said well from said neck at intervals around thesame to provide openings from the container extending past said well forthe flow of ink therethrough, a removable cap for closing said neck andhaving a cavity therein for receiving ink when the bottle is invertedand pouring said ink into said well when said container is uprighted,said well having imperforate side walls with a continuouus annularshoulder therewithin intermediate the top and bottom thereof positionedto engage a pen point of a fountain pen at the nibs portion thereofandsupportsaid pen out of contact with the bottom of the well forfilling said pen with ink poured into said well from said cap.

6. The combination of a liquid container hav ing a neck opening, aone-piece cap closing said opening having a cavity in the roof thereof,securing threads on the inner wall of said cap at the lower portionthereof, a washer in said cap and sealed against the top of said neckopening, and means for retaining said Washer on said cap and preventingthe spreading of said washer, said means comprising an annular seat insaid cap cavity, a plurality of annular concentric grooves in saidwasher seat having the washer material therein, an annular flange on oneside of said seat and the inner wall of the cap on the other sidethereof, a plurality of fine anchor threads on said inner wall adjacentsaid seat above said securing threads having the Washer material pressedtherein, with said securing threads and said anchor threads of said capbeing of the same pitch for easy removal of the cap from the apparatusfor making said cap in an unscrewing movement.

'7. An ink container having an open neck with the usual rounded capsecuring threads on the outside of said neck, a cap for said containerhaving a cavity therein, an inner well closed at the bottom and open atthe top supported in said neck in a manner to provide an ink passagewayfrom the bottom of said container past said inner Well to said cavityfor the flow of ink thereto when said container is inverted, said capacting to pour said ink into said well when the container is uprighted,a Washer secured in said cap for en-

